We are now well beyond the time business owners need to market themselves online. Still, recent reports state that around 52-58% of small businesses do not even have a website.
If you take into account those, who do have websites that are not doing Search Engine Optimization, Web Design, Social Media or any Digital Marketing. That means the majority of business owners are not marketing their products and services online – a place where the HIGH MAJORITY of people are searching for what they may offer.
I’ve done events as a featured speaker where I’ve met many business owners and discussed how they could do the online marketing themselves. This information helps them learn what to do and some of what it involved. For many, it is better than nothing.
For those who were not doing any marketing, or didn’t have a website, the main deterring factor was cost. Many of these business owners didn’t believe that they could afford it and thought it was cost prohibitive.
Cost is a huge factor in what gets done for a marketing campaign, but so is time and many other factors we’ll discuss over this series.
In writing this article series, I want to delve into what a business should look for when deciding to move from doing it themselves to paying someone, a small firm to a large agency to help them grow online. I’m not saying you should not hire someone, or hire anyone, or even hire us. Every choice you make for your business should be made methodically, logically, and carefully and working with the right Digital Marketing Agency should be where you extend the highest level of care and scrutiny.
How do I choose the best Digital Marketing for my business?
If you want to know what SEO is, feel free to read a previous article we did, “What is SEO, and Why You Need It?”
The purpose here will be to discuss what you should be looking for before and when you call an agency or consultant to discuss online marketing services.
A few items will discuss will be:
- What digital marketing services do I need for my business?
- How to spot a bad/fake agency
- How to spot false promises/awards/credentials/etc
- What to look for when assessing a digital marketing agency.
- “All talk, no substance” – this will be something you’ll see a lot.
- “They say they’re the best, premier or #1 agency” – See why they all say that and almost all are not.
- Overseas marketing companies – getting tons of emails, and why they are a bad choice no matter what.
- What should I be getting?
- Should I get reports?
- What should I be paying?
- Is cheaper better? Am I paying too much?
- Check their credibility. Do these agencies claim to have a “secret sauce” or are they fully transparent?
- Should you look for someone in your niche?
- What about the big names? Will you get lost, or just buy into something comfortable with little to no reward?
These are just a few items that will be touched on in the next three weeks. The goal here isn’t to turn you off from moving forward with online marketing and getting your site out in front of customers online. In fact, it is the opposite. One thing you’ll see me mention is the “relationship” and how important that is to move forward. If you’re with the right agency, you’ll be with them for a long time so be sure to make the right choice. If not you’ll be bouncing from one company to the next and losing more money and gaining more frustration.
Each week I’ll be posting part 1-3 to help you understand what you need to know before choosing an SEO agency and making either the best decision of your life or help you at least not make the worst. Good luck and as always, we’re here to answer any questions you may have.
Part 1 – Where to start when looking for a Digital Marketing Agency for My Business
